Chapter 57: Professional Hero Examination

"Supervisor Yu Zizi, please explain to me why you would recommend a young man who has just graduated and started working to directly participate in the Professional Brave evaluation?"

After the meeting ended, by the window at the end of the corridor, a silver-haired young woman was confronting an elegant woman with voluminous purple waves.

Chu Nai's expression was expressionless, her voice cold.

Yu Zizi adjusted her glasses, a flash of astonishment crossing the depths of her eyes. This was the first time she had seen Section Chief Chu react with such coldness, and even anger.

Although the two had worked together for less than a month, the impression Chu Nai gave her was that of a very serene and gentle girl who never argued with anyone or got angry over anything.

She was like a fresh and warm spring breeze.

But now, Chu Nai was questioning her over this matter. The spring breeze seemed to have transformed into a fierce gale, mixed with biting drizzle and restless thunder.

"Section Chief Chu," Yu Zizi sighed softly.

"Mr. Wang Xi is not an ordinary fresh graduate, and his own strength is not as simple as it appears on the surface."

"Oh?" Chu Nai's delicate brows furrowed slightly.

"On the afternoon of May 29th, Mr. Wang Xi participated in an overtime task for Cupid Housekeeping. At the request of his superior, he transported a batch of disaster materials to the Overlook Bureau for delivery—"

Yu Zizi began recounting the sequence of events to the silver-haired young woman. This included the details of Wang Xi being framed, intentionally lured to a waste factory where he was ambushed, and engaging in combat with a high-threat wanted criminal lying in wait there, ultimately achieving a counter-kill.

As the story unfolded, Chu Nai's delicate brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Her light blue eyes fluctuated violently, and the faint aura of killing intent she exuded terrified Yu Zizi.

The supreme supervisor was deep in thought. That black-haired young man was probably far more important in Section Chief Chu's heart than she had imagined.

"—In the end, when we arrived, Mr. Wang Xi was heavily injured and unconscious, but after emergency treatment, he was out of danger."

"The mastermind behind this incident was Lin Zhifeng, the deputy head of Cupid Housekeeping's cleaning department. He was arrested by the Public Security Bureau that very day and executed by firing squad a week ago after a trial."

Blowing slightly short of breath under the silver-haired girl's terrifying momentum, Yu Zizi took a deep breath and said in a low voice.

"During this incident, Mr. Wang Xi displayed astonishing vigilance and strength. Not only did he preserve audio evidence in advance, but he also called the police at the first opportunity... And that high-threat wanted criminal had previously assassinated three Professional Braves, yet still fell into Mr. Wang Xi's hands."

"Based on this, I judged that he is fully capable of participating in the Professional Brave evaluation. Of course, this was also based on his own wishes; I did not force him."

Saying it all in one breath, Yu Zizi looked at the silver-haired young woman.

Chu Nai was silent for a few seconds.

Her eyelids were lowered, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.

"What other identity did that wanted criminal have?"

Her tone was flat and calm.

Yet, Yu Zizi keenly perceived the intense, suppressed killing intent of the other party.

"The Ghost Grid," the purple-haired beauty replied truthfully. "An underground force composed of wanted criminals, seemingly with the shadow of consortia behind them. The Public Security Bureau has clashed with them for many years, but faced with numerous obstacles, it is difficult to root out the mastermind behind the scenes."

"I understand."

Chu Nai gave a soft hum, then raised her eyes to look at the other.

"I apologize, my tone was a bit impolite just now."

"It's fine," Yu Zizi shook her head with a smile. "As long as you don't blame me for recommending him for the evaluation."

"Since it was his own wish," Chu Nai said calmly, "I don't blame you."

"Chu Nai, just one more question."

Yu Zizi paused slightly, asking cautiously.

"What is your relationship with him...?"

"..."

Chu Nai did not answer, merely turning around silently to leave.

She thought inwardly:
The only person left in this world that I still care about.

The young woman's calm voice reached Yu Zizi's ears:

"If your Public Security Bureau discovers any further movements of the 'Ghost Grid', please inform me, Supervisor Yu."

"Of course, no problem."

"Supervisor Yu Zizi, please explain to me..."

Yu Zizi smiled as she watched the graceful and aloof figure walk away and vanish into the distance.

Standing by the window, she pondered.

Was Section Chief Chu planning to avenge that young man?

However, generally speaking, having such a powerhouse lend a hand would be nothing but beneficial to the Public Security Bureau's plan to eradicate the "Ghost Grid," and she was more than happy to see it happen.

Thinking of this, Yu Zizi's smile became even brighter.

...

...

June 15th, in the morning, just past 9 o'clock.

Central District of Valley City, Brave Association.

This was a majestic and massive building, flat and ring-shaped as a whole, with grayish-black stone giving a solemn impression. The portico on both sides was supported by huge stone pillars several dozen meters in diameter, their surfaces carved with fluted patterns.

Dozens of straight-rising steps led upward, broad and smooth as a whetstone.

On one side of the portico stood a four-sided obelisk. Aside from the front carved with six crimson characters reading "Valley City Brave Association," the other three sides were densely covered with names.

Those were all Professional Braves who had sacrificed themselves in disasters and labyrinths, as well as heroes who had dedicated themselves to the peace and stability of Valley City.

When Wang Xi hurried here, it was already a sea of people.

In the noisy environment, there were those participating in the evaluation, cheering squads of friends and family, as well as a large number of onlookers, media reporters, and peddlers.

As the annual major evaluation event of the Shanhai Federation and the starting point for Professional Braves, it naturally attracted countless people's attention.

Wang Xi walked alone, wearing a large black short-sleeved shirt and shorts, passing through the crowd like a tourist and walking up the steps.

He declined several peddlers selling absolutely authentic "internal materials," and from a little girl, spent 66 credit points to buy a large bouquet of white chrysanthemums.

Wang Xi walked up to the obelisk and silently placed the white chrysanthemums on the base. It was already piled high with yellow and white chrysanthemums, white lilies, white magnolias, carnations, and blue forget-me-nots.

Many people stood around, their expressions solemn, silently bowing in salute to mourn those heroes.

In a sense, every year's Professional Brave evaluation was also an unwritten "Remembrance Day."

The old gives way to the new, and hope never ceases.

Although Wang Xi possessed awakened memories of his past life due to the "Womb's Delusion" and lacked a strong sense of belonging to the Shanhai Federation or this world... he still believed that, regardless of past or present lives, people willing to shed blood and sacrifice for human causes and safety were noble and deserved respect.

And his purpose in coming to participate in the evaluation today, although merely to make his new life better, also correspondingly carried the burden of responsibility.

Wang Xi did not linger for long.

The Professional Brave evaluation started at 10 o'clock.

He stepped past the obelisk, walked into the association building, verified his identity at the lobby front desk, and signed the evaluation agreement.

Afterward, he was issued an evaluation pass.

"Wang Xi, ID number 666."

Truly six.

Wang Xi thought to himself, finding an empty seat in the waiting area and sitting down.

At this moment, the lobby was already filled with many people, men and women, old and young, though strong young adults were still the majority.

The demeanor of these people was noticeably different from ordinary people.

Yet that was about it.

They couldn't even compare to Daphne's adventurers.

Wang Xi glanced around briefly, preparing to withdraw his gaze, but was quickly drawn by a commotion on one side of the lobby.

Several groups of people had gathered there in clusters.

Four or five reporters belonging to different media companies were conducting interviews with their assistants. Hovering above their heads were several photography drones produced by the Gear Consortium, broadcasting and recording the whole process from different angles.

Wang Xi raised an eyebrow.

He silently took out his phone.

Then he opened "Wind Media," the largest live-streaming platform in the Shanhai Federation. Just like "Flying Hat," this was one of the flagship products belonging to the "Hermes Business Alliance," supervised by the "Overlook Bureau" and invested in by the three major consortia.

The top-ranked live broadcast room in popularity was officially certified by the Flash Consortium, titled "Valley City's First Public Professional Brave Evaluation," and its online viewership had already reached 600,000.

This was already an exaggerated figure.

After all, a small settlement like Valley City only had a total population of just over 4 million. This meant that more than one-eighth of the population was currently watching today's live evaluation.

And this number was rapidly increasing as time went on.

Wang Xi was somewhat surprised.

Because as far as he knew, the Professional Brave evaluations held in Valley City in the past had always been closed-door events. Even the specific contents of each martial arts evaluation were not made public.

He hadn't expected it to be fully open to the public this year.

He tapped on the top live room marked with an "Exclusive" tag, and soon, a glamorous female reporter appeared on the screen, with the waiting lobby where Wang Xi sat as the background.

After the female reporter said a few opening remarks, the camera cut to six or seven participating men and women.

Through the female reporter's voiceover introduction, Wang Xi learned that these individuals came from official departments and the three major consortia respectively, and were highly anticipated talented figures.

Among them, he also caught sight of a familiar figure.

"Miss Jiali?"

Wang Xi looked surprised, then turned his head to look toward the side of the lobby, but it was too far away to see clearly.

He had no choice but to look back at his phone.

On the screen, the short-haired, short-skirted girl with smoky eye makeup was leaning against the wall, sucking on a lollipop with a somewhat helpless expression.

That very lollipop was bought by Wang Xi yesterday.

On the short-haired girl's chest hung an evaluation pass: "Yu Jiali, ID number 003."

Only then did Wang Xi learn the full name of the front desk girl. At the same time, he was surprised that her identity and strength were far from simple.

'No wonder she took time off...'

Wang Xi thought to himself.

Meanwhile.

In the storage area of Cupid Housekeeping.

Group Two, who were busy sorting items, suddenly heard Zhu Yuhe let out an exclamation:

"Ah! Our company's Jiali participated in today's Professional Brave evaluation, and she's even a seeded candidate representing the Public Security Bureau!"

"Huh?!"

Yu Zihan, Luo Xiaoliang, and the others turned their heads in utter astonishment. Exchanging glances, they quickly gathered around.

When they saw the short-haired girl on Zhu Yuhe's phone screen, they all fell silent.

The front desk girl they saw every single day actually had such an identity!

"The first publicly held Professional Brave evaluation..."

Yu Zihan's eyes held both excitement and envy.

Looking around, he also took out his own phone and opened the live stream.

Seeing this, the others followed suit.

Team leader Lei Wen coughed and said:

"Everyone, it's working time right now. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to slack off and watch live streams so blatantly?"

"Uncle, aren't you curious?"

Zhu Yuhe asked with narrowed eyes.

"—I'm not."

Lei Wen opened his mouth to retort, but lacked confidence. His face showed hesitation and struggle, and finally taking a deep breath, he also pulled his phone out of his pocket and defended himself:

"Ahem, watching for a little while won't hurt."